Dog training collars, tips and tricks | Positive Reinforcement Dog Training

If you aren’t familiar with Positive Reinforcement (Dog) Training (PRDT or PRT), it can best be described as much by what it isn’t as what it is. That is to say, PRDT isn’t something you’d expect to find on a blog about dog training collars because the premise is based entirely on reward rather than consequence. Still confused?

In using a dog training collar of ANY kind, you are relying on negative reinforcement to condition your dog. Depending on the type of collar, your pup will experience discomfort, pain or an undesirable result. Positive reinforcement training, on the other hand, substitutes negative results for undesirable responses with strictly positive results for desired actions. Undesirable behavior goes unacknowledged.

Positive reinforcement training has been around longer than some trainers might have you think. Anybody who has ever trained their pet to sit or beg without use of anything other than treats and rewarded them when they succeeded has actually practiced PRT. Again, it’s the absence of negative consequences when the pet doesn’t perform or when it performs in an undesirable manner that distinguishes this from negative response training.

For proof that PRT works, ask yourself how a bunch of tiny human trainers have managed to condition 9 ton predatory killer whales to do all those neat tricks you see when you go to Sea World. The answer most certainly isn’t in punishing undesirable behavior. I double dare you to go spank a killer whale.

Now your next question might be, if positive reinforcement training is so successful, why are there still prong, shock and choke collars around? Why are Halti and Gentle Leader collars still sold? That’s a good question, and one I advise you keep in mind the next time you encounter a PRT advocate who criticizes “old school” trainers as uncaring and barbaric.

I, personally, am a huge proponent of positive reinforcement training. It works very well. But I’m not about to condemn those who use other methods because I’ve learnt my history well. Want me to elaborate? Ok, let me ask you this…, who was better off - your average American Plains Indian before the white man arrived or a modern day American with all our conveniences and technology?

In a college anthropology class many years ago I learnt that your average “primitive” cultures invested about 3 to 4 hours per day providing for them selves. Including hunting, gathering, preparing food, mending clothing, cleaning, doing everything and anything needed to survive for a week occupied about 3 to 4 hours of their day. The rest of their time was spent socializing, sharing stories, playing games, forming bonds and just living. Though I can’t remember the exact figure, I believe it was quoted at substantially more than double that for a modern human. My daily working hours, commute and housework make me inclined to think 4 times as much would be more accurate.

The lesson in that bit of trivia is that the newer, modern, current or in-thing isn’t necessarily the best thing. Nor is any concept absolute. It may seem that way, but remember only a few decades ago, those trainers felt their ways were the best. Now modern trainers think the same thing about their own methodology. In 30 or 50 years, some newly adopted technique will be better and what we consider current and modern may be thought of as barbaric or naive.

Dog training collars still exist. They are still sold. They are still used by owners and qualified dog trainers. There are simple reasons for that, not the very least of which is that no one technique is always the best solution for every situation, every person or every animal. While a positive-only advocate is telling you you’re cruel for using a shock collar which might have a negative impact on a dog’s confidence on one hand, they might be perfectly content to muzzle an aggressive dog on the other. A muzzled dog has the same potential for diminished self-confidence.

The merits of positive reinforcement training are many and we’ll come back to this topic often as well as discuss ways that you can incorporate PRT into hybrid training that also relies on dog training collars. A devoted PRT trainer might feel that defeats the purpose but I feel otherwise. The benefit of mixing PRT with the use of a dog training collar is that you gain many of the benefits of PRT while offsetting many of the negatives associated with some types of collars. At the same time, though, you retain control over high risk and high demand animals. An aggressive dog, for example, will benefit from the PRT element and you’ll still have control should there be an unexpected setback, relapse or trigger encountered you weren’t aware of.

As you read about different training tools and methods on this site, please remember that my objective is not to condemn or condone one methodology in favor of another. With the exception of blatantly cruel treatment (beating a dog for example) I will always try to remain neutral and give you both sides of the story to help you make an informed decision. I also recommend that you not allow your education to begin and end here. Seek qualified, professional input in addition to what you find here and always use common sense in making decisions about dog training collars. The simple truth is that it is WE the humans who need to be trained to understand our pets, their body language and their motivations far more than they need to be trained to sit and heel. Your training efforts with your dog shouldn’t begin until you’ve first trained yourself.